Poison Pill

Apr 6, 2009

For some reason, one of my favorite things to do after the tournament is to figure out which team is the anti-Midas. Some might talk about which teams seem to have a "good luck charm" knack for losing to the eventual champion, but not me.

I want to know who was the ultimate bad luck charm. Which first round game started the backwards dominos falling where the winner of that game lost their next game? For example, in 2008 the poison pill was Belmont. They lost in the first round to Duke, which lost in the second round to West Virginia, which lost in the Sweet 16 to Xavier, which lost in the Elite 8 to UCLA, which lost in the national semifinal to Memphis, which lost in the final to Kansas.

There are only two possibilities left this year, so I'll save you the work and layout the possibilities.

If Michigan State beats North Carolina: Florida State lost to Wisconsin, which lost to Xavier, which lost to Pitt, which lost to Villanova, which lost to North Carolina.

If North Carolina beats Michigan State: California lost to Maryland, which lost to Memphis, which lost to Missouri, which lost to Connecticut, which lost to Michigan State.